COACHABLE MOMENT: Benito Gonzalez, center, adjusts his hat as he holds a mound conference in 2019 game for the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball team. Gonzalez, a former star pitcher for Princeton High and The College of New Jersey, served as an assistant coach for Post 218 that summer and is now the manager of the club. Princeton, which fell 8-3 to Bordentown Post 26 last Monday in moving to 1-4, is playing at Broad Street Park Post 313 on June 23, at Allentown on June 24, at Hopewell Post 339 on June 27, and will then be hosting Bordentown on June 29. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Although the Princeton Post 218 American Legion baseball team trailed Hightstown 7-0 heading into its final at-bat last week, it wasn’t about to go down quietly.

Princeton got the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning in the June 15 contest and Peter Hare came through with a single to knock in a run and get Post 218 on the board. The rally fizzled, though, and Princeton ended up falling 7-1.

Princeton first-year manager Benito Gonzalez liked the way his squad kept scrapping.

“We competed for the first four or five innings,” said Gonzalez, noting that Hightstown starting pitcher Chris Au completed his freshman season for the Rowan University baseball program. “We put together a good fight at the end in the last half of the seventh.”

Building on that late fight, Post 218 posted a 7-6 win over Lawrence Post 414 last Friday to earn its first triumph of the summer as Jaxon Petrone, Owen McCarron, and Theo Steiger each had two hits in the victory.

Gonzalez was confident that the hits would start coming for Post 218.

“We have been working on situational hitting a lot and having a plan when you get up to the plate,” said Gonzalez, whose team fell 8-3 to Bordentown Post 26 last Monday to move to 1-4.

“I think sometimes, especially when the other team scores a few runs, it is easy to get out of your approach and not think about the plan that you have and then just go up there swinging. I do think it is going to come. I know some of these guys have hit well over the course of their careers. I have seen Princeton High hit well earlier in the year. I know it is there, it has just got to happen. They are receptive, it is a matter of can we do it.”

As for the Post 218 mound corps, Gonzalez is seeing good things in the early going.

“I think pitching-wise we are doing pretty well,” said Gonzalez, a former star pitcher for Princeton High and The College of New Jersey.

“We just have to avoid that one bad inning in the field and having the extra base runners in that one inning. I think that is what is killing us.”

Having taken the helm of Post 218 last year but never getting on the field with the team as the season was
canceled due to the pandemic, Gonzalez is relishing the chance to finally work with his players.

“I have been really happy,” said Gonzalez, whose staff includes former Post 218 manager Tommy Parker, Jon Durbin, and a trio of former Princeton Legion standouts Thomas Ramsay, Tom Bocian, and Adam Wijaya.

“We have a much more secure, good turnout than we did two years ago which means you can do more, you can plan more and you can work in practice more. I have a bunch of coaches with me who used to be part of the program. There are a lot of people that the kids can talk to, it doesn’t just have to be me. I think it is going to be a really helpful thing going forward.”

In order to help the program make progress, Gonzalez is concentrating on working efficiently.

“I am emphasizing hustling and not throwing away at-bats or throwing away time on the field,” said Gonzalez.

“You only have limited amount of at bats, you only have a limited amount of innings and a limited amount of appearances. So it is take advantage of each one, always have a plan, and be ready.”

Over the course of this summer, Gonzalez will be implementing a long range plan for Post 218.

“At the very least I think kids are going to learn a lot,” said Gonzalez, whose team plays at Broad Street Park Post 313 on June 23, at Allentown on June 24, at Hopewell Post 339 on June 27, and will then be hosting Bordentown on June 29

“We do have bunch of kids who have at least two or three more years eligibility and kids coming up. I am pretty happy about that. We are looking forward not just to this year, but to the future.”